Non-Subscriber ExtractBAMS-D completes first operational deployment |
 |
|
By Gareth Jennings
22 October 2009
The US Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) platform has successfully completed its first operational deployment, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on 20 October.
The Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, on 1 October following an eight month deployment to Central Command.
In this deployment, the BAMS-D - managed by the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems programme office (PMA-262) - flew more than 60 flights, exceeding 1,000 flight hours. During these missions it provided Commander Task Force 57 (CTF-57) with thousands of images to support maritime intelligence and surveillance activities.